Big crowd questions Sherman fire services’ need for more revenue

SHERMAN — Whether the Sherman Fire Protection District needs more money to upgrade its equipment, personnel and services has created a divide in the growing community.

That divide was evident Wednesday night at the final public meeting on the matter before voters go to the polls Tuesday.

More than 100 people showed up at the Sherman fire station to learn why the department is asking for the approval of three ballot issues that would raise property taxes.

Randy Burge, president of the fire district board, said the increased funding would allow the department to operate an advanced life-support ambulance 24/7 and replace aging equipment.

A member of the audience asked Burge if the department could make the needed improvements using existing funds. Burge said no.

“As we all know, Sherman is the fastest-growing community in Sangamon County,” he said. “Because of the increase in the number of homes and businesses that are added to the community every year, the amount of revenue we get goes up each year... But that is not enough to be able to do what we want to do.”

If the ballot issues are approved, the owner of a house with a fair market value of $100,000 would see this year’s taxes go up by $158.60. The same homeowner would see taxes continue to go up by about $8 a year for the following three years.

The largest portion of the increase would be a new tax to create a 24/7 ambulance service within the district, which covers a 50-square-mile territory including the village of Sherman and surrounding areas. That new tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $133 annually.

Another proposal would allow the district to increase its fire levy by 10 percent a year from 2014 through 2017 instead of being capped at the lesser of 5 percent or the consumer price index.

The third ballot issue would create a new tax for emergency and rescue crews and equipment, which would cost the same homeowner $16.60 a year.

Response times

Burge said the proposed levies are the result of a study conducted after a fire in July 2012.

That fire occurred on a Sunday afternoon, and it took Sherman firefighters 12 minutes to get to the scene.

“At that particular time, there weren’t any volunteers in the district,” Burge said. “They were all shopping or doing something with their families. Wherever they were, they weren’t home to respond.”

After that fire, the department sought an approach to ensure the situation didn’t occur again.

“At the time, we already had a stipend program where we paid two of our volunteers a small stipend to be at the station from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. After that incident, we added weekends,” Burge said.

If the levy passes, the fire district is looking at adding stipend positions so there would be people at the firehouse 24/7. The current plan is to have a paramedic and an emergency medical technician on duty around-the-clock to answer ambulance calls and also respond to fires.

“We feel that from our fire station, we can get to medical calls quicker than the Springfield ambulances,” Burge said.

The levy that would replace rescue tools is also seen as important.

Sherman Fire Chief Todd Masterhan said they do their best to take care of the equipment they have, but it can’t last forever. Over time, it gets harder and harder to find parts to maintain older pieces of equipment, he said.

“It’s kind of like your car. You try to keep it up as much as you can, but eventually, you have to replace it,” Masterhan said.

Taxed too high?

A study by the Sangamon County Efficiency Commission looked at 2012 property tax rates and concluded that Sherman’s existing levy of 32 cents per $100 of assessed value for fire service is pretty close to the average local rate of 31 cents.

If the three levies are approved, Sherman’s rate for fire and ambulance service would more than double.

The efficiency commission, made up of volunteers from across the county, also suggested that area fire protection districts consider merging as a way to reduce costs. The specific recommendation for Sherman was that it merge with Williamsville, Dawson and Riverton.

Sherman resident Rebecca Finley, interviewed prior to Wednesday’s meeting, said a merger with Williamsville’s fire district sounded like a great idea. She added that she doesn’t see a need for the additional tax levies.

“The village and the residents here are already taxed very high,” Finley said. “No resident I have spoken with sees any financial difficulty in the fire department.”

Burge said later that a merger with Williamsville could take years, and he didn’t think it would result in any savings.

Finley also said she sees no problem with the current arrangement in which private ambulances from Springfield respond to calls in Sherman.

“We are the closest of any village to both St. John’s and Memorial Hospital,” Finley said. “The private ambulance services that come … get there just about as quick as our emergency service truck gets there.”

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